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Fernie turns out for their 15 min share of the Olympic dream…
I had never seen the main street of Fernie so packed full of people. It was a cool morning, but most of Fernie had hopped out of bed early to see the Olympic flame pass through their little town.
Fernie has a couple of Olympic hopefuls so they're heavily invested in the games. The most famous medal hopeful is Emily Brydon, who made the podium in Lake Louise this season. They're hoping she'll get a medal in Vancouver in the Alpine events. Nearly every business in town is displaying a "Go Emily" poster, so the town is already in the Olympic Spirit!
The anticipation grew as a passer by handed out Canadian flags and pins. We could hear the procession but not yet see it. People craned their necks and gossiped and jostled as they waited for the little speck of orange. Funny to think how such a small flame can excite so many and bring communities together.
Fernie is quite a creative town, so I was not surprised when a huge group of 8ft puppets came into view, decked out in their Olympic costumes. They were made by locals in the Arts Station. There was a hockey player, an ice skater, a skier. The puppets were followed by Fernie's old fashioned fire engine with the Griz hanging out on the back. (The Griz is Fernie's mountain-man snow God. Most folks say a little prayer to him each night in the winter season, requesting a snow top up!).
After the initial hoo-hah of the procession died down, a very ordinary looking van stopped directly in front of us and dropped off a man with a torch. Yep, you guessed it. We managed to pick the one point on the main street where two torch bearers would hand over the flame.
As the flame came into view the crowd gathered round the next torch bearer. Cameras snapped madly, flashes going off left, right and centre as the flame changed hands. We followed it to the town hall steps and watched the mayor deliver her thankfully very short speech. Then a whole lot of fireworks.
The procession was over in less than 15mins, but it was actually quite exciting. Can you tell I've been living in a small town for a while?! In all seriousness, it was much better to watch from the not so crowded streets of Fernie, rather than through a sea of heads in Toronto. We're glad we never waited out in the cold for it to arrive in the big smoke!
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